toofache32 wrote:
Medical insurance very rarely pays anything for teeth. The biggest problem is finding a dentist to work on "contingency" to do the work and hope insurance pays....most (rightfully so) will require you to pay up front and it's the patient's fight to get reimbursed from THEIR insurance.

I think I'm correct in saying that everything that has ever been done to my teeth by an oral surgeon was covered by my medical insurance.

My experience as an oral surgeon has been exactly the opposite. I lost big on some cases before I finally saw the light and dropped all medical insurance so I would no longer be contractually forced to purchase my patients' healthcare for them. In my office I have a framed pre-authorization for an implant case. They decided not to pay and I had to eat over $10,000. Now that I am no longer in-network with medical, it's the patient's fight, not mine. There were many other more subtle gotchas were (on multiple occasions) they paid me $54 for a bone graft that cost me almost $200 just to purchase the graft. As an in-network provider there was nothing I could do. I was BUYING healthcare for my patients.

When I had my implant done, the oral surgeon sat down with me and explained it as follows. "The tooth has a crack in the root (as shown by the endo photos). There is a mild infection that the endo has treated. Leaving the tooth in place risks a medical problem. As a result, your insurance company will pay for the extraction (he checked). Since it is perfectly viable to close the gum and leave a gap, putting in an implant is not a medical necessity and not covered by your insurance. "

I had the means to go full implant. I did pre-pay for all the non-covered work.

When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

toofache32 wrote:
Medical insurance very rarely pays anything for teeth. The biggest problem is finding a dentist to work on "contingency" to do the work and hope insurance pays....most (rightfully so) will require you to pay up front and it's the patient's fight to get reimbursed from THEIR insurance.

I think I'm correct in saying that everything that has ever been done to my teeth by an oral surgeon was covered by my medical insurance.

My experience as an oral surgeon has been exactly the opposite. I lost big on some cases before I finally saw the light and dropped all medical insurance so I would no longer be contractually forced to purchase my patients' healthcare for them. In my office I have a framed pre-authorization for an implant case. They decided not to pay and I had to eat over $10,000. Now that I am no longer in-network with medical, it's the patient's fight, not mine. There were many other more subtle gotchas were (on multiple occasions) they paid me $54 for a bone graft that cost me almost $200 just to purchase the graft. As an in-network provider there was nothing I could do. I was BUYING healthcare for my patients.

When I had my implant done, the oral surgeon sat down with me and explained it as follows. "The tooth has a crack in the root (as shown by the endo photos). There is a mild infection that the endo has treated. Leaving the tooth in place risks a medical problem. As a result, your insurance company will pay for the extraction (he checked). Since it is perfectly viable to close the gum and leave a gap, putting in an implant is not a medical necessity and not covered by your insurance. "

I had the means to go full implant. I did pre-pay for all the non-covered work.

What would your response have been if the insurance said they would cover the extraction, but after the extraction, the insurance changed their mind and decided not to pay, resulting in the bill getting shifted to you? This was the scenario I was dealt with routinely when I was an in-network provider.

Without dental insurance, how much should I expect to pay from start to finish for All-on-4/6/8 dental implant? All teeth have been removed. I saw some reviews on Yelp mentioning $50K. Is that on the high side? Average? The dentists I have called are not willing to give me a price range unless I go in for a consultation. I'm in San Jose, California, but I wonder if it would be worth it to go to another state for the procedure. I understand it would be cheaper to do this in another country, but I'm worry about potential complications. Thank you.

There may be options for assistance If cost is a concern.

Do you happen to have an FSA or HSA? Ours could be used to help pay for implants and any dental procedures. There is also another option to help with costs ( see below)

Another option: some implant specialists offer no interest payment plans, for a limited time of 1-2 years, through popular credit companies catering to the patients of doctors and dentists. . ( the info below duplicates another post I wrote earlier in this thread but forgot I wrote, apologies

One huge caveat if you use this option. While it may be true that yoo will indeed owe no interest if payment is made within the time frame of the offer ( 1 year, 2 years, whatever)...it is also possible that you will be making paymemts to a company where interest accrues from the date the offer starts.

In other words, if you owe even one dollar after your no interest period expires, you will pay the accrued interest on the total amount of the loan, starting from the original date of the contract..

This did not happen to us and the payment plan worked out just fine. This was only because I called the company - early on -"to specify the terms of the contract. Online reviews of the company also provided much info.

Last edited by Jackson12 on Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

Jackson12 wrote:I had implants done and the cost was $12,000 for 3 teeth. I had an excellent dental surgeon.

Here's a warning about payment plans: please look very carefully at the terms for " zero interest offers" for a limited time period. If you pay the balance before interest kicks in, no problem...as I'm sure most here already know.

But there is a very popular company which offers payment plans ( can I list company names here?) where there is a "gotcha" and it almost got me. This company is often used by customers paying for dental services.

If you use the zero interest promotion and your account is not paid in full within the promotional period, you not only get hit with high interest- but that interest is calculated from the original purchase date, Making it a significantly larger amount than if it was interest accrued on the balance only after the promotional period ended. -

Thus means that even if you owe only one dollar after the promotional period ends, you'll pay interest accrued from the original purchase date.

There are several companies out there that offer credit for healthcare services. Care Credit is probably the biggest. Like all zero-interest products, they are only a good deal if paid off within the 12-18 month period. This is spelled out at the beginning, although I'm sure many people don't read their contracts.

Yes, that's the company..,and no, based on online reviews, many people don't read their contracts...and to be fair to those people, the terms aren't always easy to understand. That's why I called to double check .

I just wrote a post which duplicated much of my earlier one but added info about FSA and HSA options. Sometimes it's assumed they can be used only to pay doctors..not dental specialists.

As a heavy consumer of dental services, I can relate to a lot of this.

A few words -

I would expect follow up to be an issue anywhere, so make sure you can get back, if you can, if not - you might have to pay a second provider? I'd be tempted to have this work done in a University dental school where the work is supervised by dentists.

There are top notch dental services to be found outside the U.S. and yes, shoddy work has to be redone - but I've also had shoddy work in the U.S. that had to be redone in the U.S. Due diligence is key here. The key is whether you can get back for follow up in a reasonable manner, if you need to.

Prices in HCOL areas are higher than LCOL areas, understandably. Need to visit any relatives in a LCOL area?

Good luck.

How many retired people does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Only one, but he takes all day.

This borders on making medical recommendations which is a no-no here, but I'll keep it generic and let LadyGeek clean up my post as needed: everyone talks about price but it seems they assume quality. My bias is that I perform this treatment as a specialist who did over 6 years of training after dental school. Many who offer this have done weekend courses only. There are also many brand of implants out there...some have decades of research/tweaking while others have minimal long-term track record and are much cheaper. I choose to use the implants backed by decades of research which other brands try to copy. Yes these are more expensive. You have to ask yourself if you want a Honda or a BMW in your body. There is nothing inherently wrong with Honda's but there is a difference in some scenarios. Not all dentists agree.

This borders on making medical recommendations which is a no-no here, but I'll keep it generic and let LadyGeek clean up my post as needed: everyone talks about price but it seems they assume quality. My bias is that I perform this treatment as a specialist who did over 6 years of training after dental school. Many who offer this have done weekend courses only. There are also many brand of implants out there...some have decades of research/tweaking while others have minimal long-term track record and are much cheaper. I choose to use the implants backed by decades of research which other brands try to copy. Yes these are more expensive. You have to ask yourself if you want a Honda or a BMW in your body. There is nothing inherently wrong with Honda's but there is a difference in some scenarios. Not all dentists agree.

The Boglehead choice here would definitely be the Honda. If I had a BMW in my mouth it would cost a fortune and require expensive annual service. There would also be times when I would try to chew something and the tooth would randomly refuse to chew so I would have to bring my tooth in and get a loaner while you figure out the problem.

This borders on making medical recommendations which is a no-no here, but I'll keep it generic and let LadyGeek clean up my post as needed: everyone talks about price but it seems they assume quality. My bias is that I perform this treatment as a specialist who did over 6 years of training after dental school. Many who offer this have done weekend courses only. There are also many brand of implants out there...some have decades of research/tweaking while others have minimal long-term track record and are much cheaper. I choose to use the implants backed by decades of research which other brands try to copy. Yes these are more expensive. You have to ask yourself if you want a Honda or a BMW in your body. There is nothing inherently wrong with Honda's but there is a difference in some scenarios. Not all dentists agree.

That is a really odd way of describing dental implants. I have owned a BMW, and currently own a Honda. My BMW was in the shop a lot, my Honda.....never. I am mostly teasing, but not sure I agree with your analogy. Also, I am a dentist with extensive implant training who places a very reputable brand of implants.

You're right that the car analogy is probably not accurate. What I was trying to convey is that not all implants are the same and there is a significant variation on how much it costs the dentist to purchase them. While you don't always get what you pay for, you will never get what you don't pay for.

toofache32 wrote:You're right that the car analogy is probably not accurate. What I was trying to convey is that not all implants are the same and there is a significant variation on how much it costs the dentist to purchase them. While you don't always get what you pay for, you will never get what you don't pay for.